Friday, January 31, 2014

Of one Substance, II

The remarks here are, in my experience, quite important, because they flow from a real and immediate contact with this life, not a theory about what this life consists of.

Inwardly formed impressions of substance, if they are real, do not attach to theories; nor do theories attach to them. It is possible both to know and to understand; and if there is anything short of knowing and understanding, then there is no knowing and understanding. To fall one percent short of the mark is to fall one hundred percent short; and thus one percent is the same as a hundred percent, both within understanding and within not understanding.

Knowing and understanding are irrevocable and flow directly from Grace. So within Grace, Grace is known and understood, and the Lord is known and understood. This lies beyond the realm of the intellect, but manifests within the realm of intelligence, which is a different and more active place. I must know it better and more clearly.

This understanding in no way relieves or alleviates the conundrums of life, but it invests them, that is, they are clothed. And what they are clothed in is this understanding, which is the best and most efficacious cloak of all, for it covers and shields one's essence from falsehoods. This means that I suffer more; but I also suffer more gladly.

Essence cannot find anything but truth within the full expression of the faith; and the full expression of the faith is not in the faith itself, but this truth of it, and the understanding of it—in other words, faith matures on the vines of being and becomes the fruit that is so often spoken of in the bible.

So I reach a moment in which there is no argument. I don't need to ask the question Lord, where are you, because the Lord is Present. And although I am within this life and as equally confused, bereft (in my ordinary ways) and lost as always, I am discovered within the Lord. So this inhabitation of Being, this Presence, becomes truth in its own right and does not need to negotiate in the manner all of my intellect insists on doing.

Perhaps it might be good to say that this one substance is un-negotiated; I don't know. Certainly it is not brokered; and its origins cannot be mistaken, because it is, in its entirety, the immediate expression of the truth, which needs no agent.

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Recommendations and current reading list

Lee's current reading list (all recommended)

The Iceberg- Marion Coutts. This extraordinary book deserves to be read by every individual engaged in an inner search. The questions it raises about life, death, and relationship are framed by the authors responsibilities to her very young child and her dying husband. This is a book about real work in life, not esoteric theory.

Far From The Tree: Andrew Solomon. Parents, Children and the Search for Identity. Highly recommended.

Inner Yoga, Sri Anirvan—This extraordinary book is essential reading for any serious student of Gurdjieff or Yoga practice. Written at a level of both practical and philosophical discourse well above other contemporary work, Anirvan investigates the deep roots of Yoga practice, theory, and philosophy in a deeply sensitive series of insights. Of particular interest is the extraordinary and challenging piece on Buddhi and Buddhiyoga, which examines the questions of practice, life, and death with an acuity rarely encountered in other work of this nature.

Divine Love and Wisdom, Emmanuel Swedenborg. Swedenborg gives us a detailed report on Reality as received from higher sources, reflecting many Truths one would be wise to study carefully. Readers will be astounded by the extraordinary degree of correlation between Swedenborg and Ibn 'Arabi. Many fundamental principles introduced by Gurdjieff are also expounded on in fascinating detail by Swedenborg. All of Swedenborg's works are well worth reading.

The Divine Governance of the Human Kingdom, Ibn 'Arabi. Another real gem, this book ought to be read by every seeker on the spiritual path. If you can only find the time to read one book by Ibn 'Arabi, this ought to be the one. By turns lighthearted, serious, insightful, and ingenius, al 'Arabi introduces us to our inner government character by character, explains their relationships, and indicates how to bring them into a state of harmonious cooperation. Written with love, the book deftly manages to avoid being didactic, delivering instead a sensitive, poetic, and even romantic look at how to organize our inner Being.

The Bezels of Wisdom—Ibn al 'Arabi. A compendium of observations about the nature of "The Reality"—what al 'Arabi calls God— from a 13th century Sufi master. This towering work easily holds its own against—and is worthy of comparison to—13th century masterpieces from other major religious traditions such as Dogen's Shobogenzo and Meister Eckhart's sermons.